OZY - Daily Dose

10 MUST READS TODAY

Monday
November 19, 2018

1	Rising Stars

Rising Stars

Mexico's 'First Lady of the Disappeared' Is Prepared to Forgive

Four of Maria Elena Herrera’s sons are among the thousands missing. Yet she’s willing to forgive.

When Felipe Calderon, the former president of Mexico and the architect of its decade-long drug war, sat down to talk with families of the dead and missing seven years ago, Maria Elena Herrera was there, lambasting him for starting a deadly conflict that her countryfolk never asked for. Four years ago, when those same families marched into violence-ravaged states to start digging in the dirt for signs of their missing loved ones because the government wouldn’t, Herrera was there digging, and crying, with them.

So when president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, aka AMLO, promised to prioritize the issue of missing people in Mexico when he takes office, Herrera said — controversially — that she could find it in her heart to forgive if the government could give them justice.

2	The Huddle

The Huddle

Why Older QBs Are Striking Gold at the Same Time as Millennials

Stronger rules protecting players from injury are allowing older quarterbacks to prolong their NFL careers.

Ten weeks into this NFL season, league scoring is booming; as a result, we took a look at how young quarterbacks are lighting up the league. But the league’s new player safety rules and flag-happy referees are also spurring a parallel revolution in the middle of the field: They’re prolonging the careers of aging quarterbacks.

Prior to this season, the NFL enacted new rules designed to better protect players. But the stricter “roughing the passer” protections and “unnecessary roughness” flags that address how forcefully and in what way opponents can be hit are forcing NFL defenders to reconsider how they play — or suffer the consequences. In Week 2, after controversial penalties against both teams ultimately led to a 29–29 tie between the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer told radio station KFAN that an official had acknowledged the defensive dilemma. According to Zimmer, “they just want us to throw the flag,” the referee had told him, referring to the NFL. While, ultimately, defenses may adjust, the confusion is leading to new opportunities. Accurate quarterbacks are finding new ways to rack up yards and play longer.

Opinion

Don't Rely on Facebook Data to Predict Crime

Random data correlations can suggest that social media might help in major predictions, such as upcoming crime. The reality is far more complex.

Ten years ago, British-American author and entrepreneur Chris Anderson made a provocative argument. “The new availability of huge amounts of data, along with the statistical tools to crunch these numbers,” means that “science can advance even without coherent models, unified theories or really any mechanistic explanation at all,” he argued. Simply put, “correlation supersedes causation,” he wrote in an article for Wired, where Anderson — now CEO of drone software firm 3D Robotics — was then editor-in-chief.

The revolution Anderson envisioned is playing out, moving forward full speed ahead, driven by artificial intelligence. Data miners are ransacking Big Data looking for patterns and making decisions based on these discovered patterns. But just how useful are these strategies? And what are their limitations?

4	True Story

I Directed the Saddest Movie About Sex Abuse Ever

Austrian filmmaker Paul Poet was looking for a project and found a story of almost unbearable horror. And light.

Acumen

You Call Them Gen Z, We Call Them ‘Philanthroteens’

This generation has got social engagement on its mind, and countless different outlets to demonstrate it. We take a look at three of them here.

Good Sh*t

This Day Out Serves Up Florida History With Taxidermy and Frog Legs

In these three old-school haunts, the state’s past is celebrated with gator skins, newspaper clippings and colorful characters.

7	Immodest proposal


Bronx Tales II: Leaving Home at 16

How did we do?

Why not rate our email

OZY isn’t like other media companies: We want to hear your love and your loathing, so we can be even better at serving up tantalizing stories. You can also email us at replies@ozy.com.